Hard to swallow: Perth hosts public porn screening

Women took to Time Square to protest against Deep Throat during its initial run in cinemas; next month it comes to a rooftop cinema in Perth.

Those used to hiding in the sanctity of their dark bedrooms to get high and watch pornography can step out into the light and join a potential crowd of hundreds for an unusually public Perth porn screening.

Normally reserved for the seedy back rooms of sex shops, the iconic porn movie Deep Throat will reach a new audience - and altitude - at the Rooftop Cinemas on Saturday, December 8.

As the first porno to have a plotline – girl meets doctor, doctor discovers girl's sweet spot is in her throat, doctor capitalises on girl's oddity by training her in 'special skills' – it shot adult film actor Linda Lovelace into notoriety and changed the US film classification criteria.

"That one was a bit of a nerve-wracking choice for us," Rooftop Cinemas program coordinator Jess Darlow said.

"We try and have fun with it and put films up that have a cult following - ones people might have missed when they came out but had a second win through the internet.

"That film was the first porno flick to make it into the mainstream cinemas. And that was a big deal at the time.

"They changed the rating system. It set a precedent in New York art house cinema and we wanted to bring that to Northbridge; Northbridge has a seedy underbelly."

With the movie about Linda Lovelace's life, Inferno, due for release in 2013 Darlow said it was perfect timing to feature the porno.

Amanda Seyfried, of Mean Girls and Mamma Mia! fame, will play Lovelace, who claimed later in life that her husband/manager Chuck Traynor forced her at gunpoint to do the film.

Lindsay Lohan was first picked to play the porn star, but her personal dramas caused execs to opt for Seyfried instead.

"With the Linda Lovelace biopic coming out, there's been a lot of publicity around it," she said.

"It's a bit of audience education. There are a lot of new facts that have come to light about her life and it's a good time to see the original."

It's not the first time the cinema has shown R-rated films - after screening a series of horror films over Halloween - but the inclusion of Deep Throat certainly takes things one step further.

"It's the first and probably the only time we'll ever show actual porn," Darlow said.

"We're looking at it as a cultural education rather than adult cinema."

Organisers aren't sure if they can expect a full house, but if the response on their Facebook page is anything to go by – one response was "Deep Throat... I'm in!" – then the sound of crickets won't be drowning out the on-screen moans.

"That's the way it was screened in New York. We're not reinventing the wheel here. I figure if the audience of New York can have laugh with it I think the people of Perth can too," Darlow said.

"I'm really curious to see who's going to come. I think there's a really good market of people in Perth who are excited to see unusual films and with the film coming out, people will be curious to see it.

"I think it's a bit of a 'don't bring a boy, bring girlfriends and a bottle of wine'. Hopefully people take it in humour."

Tickets are available through Rooftop Movies but it's an 18+ only event.

For now, as at the end of the film, it's "The End. And Deep Throat to you all"... if you dare.